(Ed. This was forwarded to World radio by Bill Pasternak, WA61TF, "Jimmy K" , the author is unknown. How many times have you heard a new call an a repeater, and chose to ignore it because it was an unfamiliar call? We should all be ashamed of ourselves! This isn't supposed to happen in Amateur Radio.)

Published by permission from World Radio, Year 29, Issue 7, Jan. 2000.

  "I just wanted to share a little  story regarding my experiences with Ham radio. Help me make a fair assessment.
   "I have been a Ham for about a year now. I remember I couldn't wait to get my callsign, after passing the exam, and the pride I felt with that ticket came in the mail and I could get on the air. From there, though, it went downhill quick.
  "So I get on the air. Aside from one nice gentleman who chatted with me several times on a local repeater, I can't get anyone to respond. "K-- monitoring" I call, over and over. Maybe I'm not getting out, I thought, but a quick grab of my HT to listen to the output of the repeater(s) I key up ensures I'm loud and clear. Nobody answers, until I call again and again and finally someone gets tired of hearing me call and decides they'll speak with a stranger. Seems that if you're not a "regular" whom everyone knows, nobody's interested in responding.    "So I figured if I got to know some of the other Hams, someone may want to talk to me. I get on the internet and find the website of the local club. It advertises a meeting that night! Great, I thought, and headed straight to the location right after work. But nobody's at the location. Must have moved, I think, so I get on the air and call. And call. And call some more on the most heavily used repeater in

the metro area (1 million+ population). A quick grab of my HT again confirms I'm full quieting into the repeater. Another 30 minutes of calling and a rather irritated gentleman advises that the meeting's been moved, and that he's there, but advises it's a party for the club, and reservations needed to be made in advance. Discouraged, I head home.
   "Then I thought maybe I should get involved in a local Ham radio function. This was a good idea, as a leader of the local club was on the air asking for volunteers to work with them at a Christmas parade-type function in town in a couple of weeks. I cheerfully volunteered, and the man took my name and number over the sir. He said he'd call soon with details when the volunteer roster was complete, but no call ever came, either on the air or by phone. So I assumed they didn't need any more help. I attended the parade with my wife and approached one of the Hams working there and attempted friendly conversation. I was told rather stand-offishly that I could have helped, all I'd have to do is get a Ham license. The guy just assumed that because I didn't have wires and antennas hanging off my body, and wasn't either elderly or handicapped, I must not be a Ham.
   "With my faith in Ham radio in question, I didn't get on the air for several months. Then I began traveling. Thought it would be nice to meet other Hams on the road, so at high points I would call "CQ" on 146.52 simplex. And called and called and called. After about a month of doing this daily while driving, I made a contact! The gentleman was very friendly and interesting, but told me about calling on simplex 146.52, "nobody ever

monitors that anymore." I figured I'd have better luck with the CB, and sure enough I did.
   Later that month I broke down on the side of the road outside of San Antonio TX. I happened to know that San Antonio has wide-area coverage on 146.94, so I keyed up the machine (again full quieting) and called CQ, then called "emergency" then "mayday" No answer. I held down the 0 DTMF key for 5 seconds and called again  still no answer. So I check other repeaters. The only other one I could reach was being occupied by someone who just loved to bring up the autopatch unidentified, dial numbers at random, then bring it down, over and over. Listened a little longer and found it was a kid playing with the autopatch. So I call 146.52, since I'm on an interstate (must be Hams on the road, it's a holiday weekend). I called until I was blue in the face. No response there either. So, I gave up. The CB brought a tow truck in about 5 min.
   "So I guess my point is that I don't want to hear any more of the "long timers" whining about Ham radio being a "dying breed", and that nobody in their 2040's is interested any more. I'm a very technically competent, friendly, and personable individual, and I felt as though I had something to contribute by being involved in Ham radio. There was someone that WAS interested (me), and tried earnestly to get involved and participate, but frankly, I find more responsive, friendly, and helpful people on CB."  Jimmy K.